First US all-children's hospital care research database

Citation

(2001), "First US all-children's hospital care research database", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 14 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2001.06214gab.011

First US all-children's hospital care research database

First US all-children's hospital care research database

The US Agency for Health-care Research and Quality (AHRQ) has announced the nation's first database on the hospital in-patient care of the USA's children. The Kids' In-patient Database (KID) was developed to make national and regional estimates of children's treatment, including surgery and other procedures, and for estimating treatment outcomes and hospital charges. The database includes paediatric patients from birth through age 18, regardless of whether they had insurance, public assistance, or were uninsured.

The KID contains information on about 1.9 million children's hospital in-patient stays at over 2,500 hospitals across the USA in 1997. Included is information on children's principal and secondary diagnoses, tests, surgeries and other procedures, length of stay, hospital charges, payment sources, and type of hospital. The KID's large sample size will enable researchers to analyse hospital care and charges for common conditions in children, such as respiratory diseases and injuries, as well as rare conditions, such as congenital abnormalities. The power of the database also enhances the ability to study infrequently used procedures, such as bone marrow biopsy and organ transplantation.

For further information: contact the HCUP Central Distributor, Social and Scientific Systems, Inc., 7101 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1300, Bethesda, MD 20814-4805.